Battle of Copenhagen

'Prussia, more intent on her own immediate aggrandizement, than mindful of the welfare of Europe in general, took advantage of the universal ill-will against England, to seize upon the King's continental dominions of Hanover, with peculiar breach of public faith, as she herself had guaranteed the neutrality of that country.


The consequences, with regard to the northern powers, are well known. The promptitude of the administration sent a strong fleet to the Baltic; and the well-contested battle of Copenhagen detached Denmark from the Northern Confederacy. Sweden had joined it unwillingly; and Russia altered her course of policy in consequence of the death of Paul. That unhappy prince had surmounted the patience of his subjects, and fell a victim to one of those conspiracies, which in arbitrary monarchies, especially such as partake of the Oriental character, supply all the checks of a moderate and free constitution, where the prerogative of the crown is limited by laws. In these altered circumstances, the cause of dispute was easily removed, by the right of search being subjected to equitable regulations and modifications.


Bonaparte received the news of Paul's death with much more emotion than he was usually apt to testify. It is said, that, for the first time in his life, a passionate exclamation of "Mon Dieu!” escaped him, in a tone of sorrow and surprise. With Paul's immense power, and his disposition to place it at the disposal of France, the first consul doubtless reckoned upon the accomplishment of many important plans which his death disconcerted. It was natural, also, that Napoleon should be moved by the sudden and violent end of a prince, who had manifested so much admiration of his person and his qualities. He is said to have dwelt so long on the strangeness of the incident, that Fouche was obliged to remind him, that it was a mode of changing a chief magistrate, or a course of administration, which was common to the empire in which it took place.'

The Battle of Copenhagen was fought on April 2, 1801. Sir Walter Scott covered it in his "Life of Napoleon Buonaparte". The outcome of this battle was very favorable for the British, who fought under the command of Admiral Hyde Parker. Another British naval hero, Horatio Nelson, played a pivotal role in the battle. At roughly the same time Russian Czar Paul I was assassinated, which Scott points out altered the course of Russian policy thereafter.

Trafalgar

‘Admiral Collingwood, was to break in upon the enemy about the twelfth ship from the rear, and Nelson himself determined to bear down on the centre.  The effect of these manoeuvers must of course be a close and general action; for the rest, Nelson knew he could trust to the determination of his officers and seamen. ..With such dispositions on either side, the two gallant fleets met on the memorable 21^st of October.  Admiral Collingwood, who led the van, went down on the enemy with all sails set. ..Nelson run his vessel , the Victory, on board the French Redoubtable…’

On October 21, 1805, the British Royal Navy under Horatio Nelson met Napoleon's fleet, which was led by Admiral Villeneuve.  In this, the Battle of Trafalgar, the British scored a resounding victory.  As Walter Scott describes in his "The Life of Napoleon Buonaparte", Nelson's partner, Admiral Collingwood sailed the Royal Sovereign to attack the line of the French fleet from the windward, while Nelson approached from the leeward in the Victory.  Horatio Nelson, though victorious, died of a gunshot wound during the battle.

Battle of the Nile

The Battle of the Nile took place on August 2, 1798.  In this battle, Napoleon's navy under Vice Admiral Francois-Paul Brueys D'Aigalliers was defeated by the British Royal Navy under Admiral Horatio Nelson.  The British navy gained the upper hand in the Napoleonic Wars with this victory.

Walter Scott references this battle in the line 'On Egypt...' in his poem Marmion.

'Nor mourn ye less his perished worth,
Who bade the conqueror go forth,
And launch'd that thunderbolt of war
On Egypt, Hafnia, Trafalgar;
Who, born to guide such high emprize,
For Britain's weal was early wise;
Alas! to whom the Almighty gave,
For Britain's sins, an early grave!
His worth, who, in his mightiest hour,
A bauble held the pride of power,
Spum'd at the sordid lust of pelf,
And served his Albion for herself;
Who, when the frantic crowd amain
Strain'd at subjection's bursting rein,
O'er their wild mood full conquest gain'd,
The pride, he would not crush, restrain'd,
Show'd their fierce zeal a worthier cause,
And brought the freeman's arm, to aid the freeman's laws...'

William Pitt the Younger

'The mighty chiefs sleep side by side;
Drop upon Fox's grave the tear,
'Twill trickle to his rival's bier.'

Walter Scott's first line above refers to the two William Pitt's; the Elder Lord Chatham, and the Younger, who died on January 23, 1806.  Line two, the Whig Charles James Fox, rival of Pitt the Younger.

Pitt's public career included functioning as a prime minister from 1783 - 1801 and again between 1804 - 1806. This timeframe includes the great events of the era; the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars.  Pitt's career was necessarily shaped by these events.

One outcome of these times, which Pitt actively supported, was the uniting of Ireland with Great Britain; the Act of Union of 1800.  In one respect, a defensive measure, as Irish nationalists had attempted a rebellion in 1798, and the threat of intercession from France was considered great.

Pitt, in his second ministry encouraged Great Britain's involvement in the Third Coalition, joining Austria, Russia, and Sweden against Napoleon.  Not long after, in October 1805, Horatio Nelson prevailed over the French at the Battle of Trafalgar, establishing English naval supremacy for the duration of the war.

Pitt figures prominently in Scott's "The Life of Napoleon".